A’s Punched By Astros 11-1

Just a couple of days removed from snapping their horrible 11-game losing streak the A’s found themselves in the loss column again on Tuesday evening, getting punched in the mouth by the division-rival Houston Astros 11-1. The Athletics now falling even further behind in the race for the playoffs and the panic button needs to be hit hard and fast as they drop to 23-32.

Sears struggles against Houston’s lineup

Lefty JP Sears got the assignment to kick off this quick series against their division rivals. The 29-year-old got off to a nice start with a scoreless first before getting hit hard in the second inning. A two-out rally against Sears began with a harmless single but was followed by back-to-back doubles and ended in a 2-run home run off the bat of young Astros shortstop Jeremy Pena, capping a four-run rally that put the A’s in a deep early hole.

Houston added on another run in the next inning when longtime nemesis Jose Altuve took Sears deep for a solo home run. It was the second home run of the game off Sears and the second time in as many starts he’s allowed multiple homers after allowing no more than one in each of his first nine starts. The Astros weren’t done with Sears either as they tacked on two more runs by the time the inning was over, prompting the bullpen to begin stirring earlier than anticipated. Sears managed to finish the frame but was now already at 78 pitches, clearly didn’t have his best stuff tonight and wasn’t long for this one.

Manager Mark Kotsay gave him one more chance, hoping to squeeze maybe one final inning out of Sears before going to the bullpen the rest of the day. Instead Sears was greeted by Altuve’s second home run of the day, this one a two-run blast that finally (mercifully?) chased him from this game as Mitch Spence took over.

JP Sears: 3 1⁄3 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 3 HR, 90 pitches

That was easily the worst start of Sears’ season and arguably the worst outing of his professional career. He had nothing working for him tonight and Houston took advantage. Fans were excited to see Sears’ growth in the early portion of this season but he’s begun reverting back to bad habits that made him look more like a backend starter than a mid- to borderline frontline starter. He’s now got a bloated 5.18 ERA, which is a far cry from where he was just a few starts ago and there is the worry that he’s hiding an injury, something the club cannot afford right now. He’ll hope to bounce back in his next start, which lines up against the Toronto Blue Jays.

No answer for Hunter Brown

While the Astros were teeing off Sears in the first half of the game Houston’s own starting pitcher was on cruise control. Right-hander Hunter Brown, formerly one of the top overall pitching prospects in the entire league, seems to have finally arrived and met his sky-high potential. Entering tonight with a pristine 2.08 ERA over ten starts Brown continued his strong season, holding down the A’s bats while his teammates worked over his opposite on the mound. The right-hander would pitch six full frames while striking out eight Athletics tonight.

The A’s did manage to tag Brown for a run in the fourth when right fielder Lawrence Butler led off the frame with a solo shot off a sinker that did not sink, his 8th of the season:

Butler would finish tonight 3-for-4 and he’s now hitting .400 over his last seven games. That would be the only run the A’s could work across against Brown though as he kept the team in check and prevented any thought of a comeback tonight. The Athletics did manage to load the bases in the top of the sixth, during which stud outfield prospect Denzel Clarke recorded his first major league hit, a chopper to third that the defender had no chance to make against the speedy Clarke:

And hopefully the first of many! Getting that first base knock out of the way can be a mental challenge for some but once they get it they can start to fly and that’ll be the hope with the Athletics’ young new center fielder. Alas, he wouldn’t come around to score as a groundball double play off the bat of Brent Rooker killed the real final chance the team had to get back into this game and helped Brown end his day on a high note and in line for an easy win.

That did end up being Brown’s final inning but going up against one of the best bullpens in baseball hopes were low, especially after Houston added on another pair of runs of Michel Otanez to make it an 11-1 game. So low that the club went with the backups for the final few innings. Rookie outfielder Drew Avans got into a major league game for the first time in place of Butler, and he would later collect his first major league hit!:

And like with Clarke, hopefully the first of many! Backup rookie catcher Willie MacIver took over for Shea Langeliers behind the plate and a third rookie in Logan Davidson entered the game at third base while Miguel Andujar got the rest of the night off. Let’s hope the extra two innings can help those guys tomorrow in the finale.

The A’s finished this game with a grand total of seven hits, with three of them coming from one hitter! On the positive side two rookies collected their first major league hits, but the offense didn’t even manage to work a single walk all evening and it felt like they had no game plan entering tonight’s contest against a potential Cy Young award finalist. Not that it would have mattered after Sears had his first meltdown of the season. Perhaps he raised expectations too high too early but his recent performance has been a letdown for the team. The biggest hope from this appearance is that the lefty starter isn’t falling apart and knows what’s gone wrong in recent outings, and can fix them before his next scheduled start. The club now sits 8 games back of the AL West and 6.5 out of a Wild Card spot. Not insurmountable but that charge needs to start sooner than later.

The club wraps things up tomorrow bright and early in a morning matchup. Staff leader Luis Severino will get the ball for his 12th assignment of the season and he’s still looking to get his second win as an Athletic. He’s got a 4.11 ERA on the year but one true meltdown outing has really skewed his bottom-line stats. He’s been generally dependable for the team in his first season in the Green & Gold. He’ll be matching up with Astros righty Lance McCullers Jr., who will make just his fifth start this year and has an unsightly 6.57 ERA. Could be a great opportunity to steal a win in Houston and get back in the win column before hitting the road again.

A’s Punched By Astros 11-1

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